Statement from Councilwoman Dowd, Tuesday, Feb. 12

I would like to make a statement for the record, because so much of what I say in these meeting reaches the public through the Pilot newspaper that often plays politics with the issues and lifts quotes out of context.

In August of 2006 I wrote a letter to the former council, which was reprinted in the Pilot, stating my opinion that before Southern Pines adopts a PUD ordinance or approves a development under such ordinance, that the town must first adopt a master plan for the future development of our town. That was my opinion then, and it has not changed.

This is not the right project at the right time for Southern Pines.

Our town is distinguished from surrounding towns by a resort atmosphere centered around our historic downtown. In order to maintain this character, and in turn our livelihood, we must look at Southern Pines as a whole and create a master plan to guide future development.

Good design depends on the overall, and no one piece no matter how well planned can take precedence over the whole.

Every good developer starts out with a pro forma to run the numbers, they know the projected revenues and expenses. But we have not done the same for our town. And while everyone is talking about the benefits of this project and the viability of this project for the developer, we do not know the costs of this project to Southern Pines. Study after study shows that residential development does not pay for itself and that many costs end up being absorbed by the taxpayers.

Not once during the entire review process of this application has the developer shown that the cost of this development will not be born by current residents. In fact, no one has provided a cost/benefit analysis of the impact of this project on the Town of Southern Pines. So, at this time we have no idea what the actual cost of Pine Needles Village will be to the citizens.

What we do know is that in 2007, our citizens absorbed significant tax increases:

~ the property tax revaluation hurt a lot of people and the County recently voted to make this 4-year accelerated revaluation schedule permanent.

~ the Moore County School Board adopted an ambitious $144 million capital improvements plan; but to make it palatable to voters, they only brought $54 million of that $144 million to the public in the form of a bond issue, which leaves $90 million left to be dealt with.

~ a $15.5 million bond was also approved for Sandhills Community College.

~ The Moore County Commissioners just voted to put the sales tax increase on this year's ballot, which will still not cover the $69.5 million bonds.

~ We have water problems and no drought prevention plan;

~ We have not yet received approval for a new reservoir and have not discussed how we are going to pay for it.

Now having said all that, in the past week, I've been swamped with e-mails from residents who are scared. And what they're scared of is that if we don't approve this project, the developer will retaliate by building something very inappropriate, like the corporate park, on that piece of land.

And I don't blame them for being scared. That land is zoned to allow exactly that.

And who zoned it?

A former Town Council.

And why?

To pave the way for the corporate park that people don't want there - and never did.

So, if the developer can build something totally inappropriate on that piece of land, it's because a previous council rezoned the property and then approved the corporate park without considering the future of Southern Pines as a whole, or the consequences that we are now faced with.

For years the Council, including the previous council, has continued to renew the corporate park conditional use permit on its consent agenda and would have done so in June of 2007 had the developer not pulled it, claiming vested rights.

It is time for the current Council to address this issue - not by voting for something in order to correct a mistake in the past, but by beginning a process for a master plan that will allow the citizens of Southern Pines, for the first time, to have a voice in the future of this town that we all take pride in.

I have always felt that we can do a better job of preserving and developing Southern Pines; therefore, I cannot, in good conscious, approve this project.

That is why I will vote to deny this application.

Sou. Pines Town Council, 7:00, Dec. 11

Be there, very important!

Sou. Pines Politics

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=279997

Important Meeting, Sou. Pines, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.

Law interpretation affects vote

FayObserver.com - Fayetteville,NC,USA
... vote on a controversial PUD rezoning request that could allow for the construction of more than 800 homes in a development called Pine Needles Village. ...


To Friends of Southern Pines,

NC law says that newly elected officials must be sworn in "not later than the date and time of the first regular meeting of the council in December." The Town Council's first "regular meeting" in December was the Agenda Meeting, held last Wednesday, December 5, 2007.

The Agenda meeting is a regularly scheduled monthly meeting held the first Wednesday of every month and is always listed on the Town's website as part of the regularly scheduled public meeting calendar. (See public meeting calendar below.) Unlike "special meetings" it is not special set.

By the way, FYI -- Mike Brough, the attorney quoted in the article who advised the Town of Whispering Pines that it must swear in its newly elected officials at W.P.'s agenda meeting and NOT, as they have been accustomed to, at their monthly Council meeting, wrote the zoning ordinances (UDO) for the Town of Southern Pines.


SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR ABIGIAL DOWD.
COME TO THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2007 AT 7:00pm
Douglass Community Center



North Carolina General Assembly
§ 160A‑68. Organizational meeting of council.
(a) The council may fix the date and time of its organizational meeting. The organizational meeting may be held at any time after the results of the municipal election have been officially determined and published pursuant to Subchapter IX of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes but not later than the date and time of the first regular meeting of the council in December after the results of the municipal election have been certified pursuant to that Subchapter. If the council fails to fix the date and time of its organizational meeting, then the meeting shall be held on the date and at the time of the first regular meeting in December after the results of the municipal election have been certified pursuant to Subchapter IX of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.


TOWN OF SOUTHERN PINES
Calendar of Events:

DECEMBER 2007

Council Agenda Meeting and Public Hearing (COUNCIL REGULARL MEETING #1)
12/05/2007 at 6:00 PM
Van Dusen Hall, Sandhills Community College

Subversion of Voters' Wishes, Sou. Pines.

29 November 2007

Dear Southern Pines Voter,

Recently, Southern Pines officials have taken a series of unusual steps to prevent the newest member of the Southern Pines Town Council, Abigail Dowd, from voting on the Pine Needles Village PUD proposal.

I write to ask that you attend the two upcoming public hearings (see below) in front of the Town Council and voice your disapproval of this subversion of the electoral process.

As you may know, in the November election Abigail Dowd received the largest number of votes ever received by a candidate for Southern Pines Town Council.

Prior to the election, Abigail served on the Southern Pines Planning Board, where she demonstrated a better grasp of the significant and complex impacts of the Pine Needles Village development plan than most of the current Town Council possess.

Perhaps because of her grasp of the issues and her willingness to give them voice, Mayor Quis and others on the current Town Council have scheduled a bizarre series of additional meetings of the Town Council in order to exclude Abigail from the rushed vote on the Pine Needles Village development by holding the vote before Abigail gets sworn in.

I ask that you, as a voter in the recent election, attend these public hearings and urge the Town Council to (1) take the time to properly study this complex developmentand (2) not disenfranchise the voters who elected Abigail Dowd.

Please come to these two meetings and speak out against this capricious and high-handed attempt to silence the voters and improperly rush the consideration of this complex and massive development project.

Sincerely, Marsh Smith

Please attend the two public hearings “conveniently” scheduled during this busy holiday season and speak out:

6 pm, Wednesday, December 5th at Room 103 Van Dusen Hall, Sandhills Community College

7 pm, Tuesday, December 11th at the Douglass Center, Penn. Ave., Southern Pines

PS: You can keep track of any changes to the meeting schedule at this web address -- http://www.southernpines.net/government_calendar.aspx .

You can also contact me at my e-mail address (marsh@marshsmithlaw.com ; please type “VOTER ALERT” in the subject line), if you have any questions or if you would like a list of talking points to consider using at the public meetings.

Thank you.

Marsh

Please also consider sending an e-mail to the current members of the Southern Pines Town Council, especially if you can’t attend the hearings on December 5th and 11th.

Mayor Frank Quis quismachinery@sopines.net 692-6942

Mayor pro tempore Fred Walden fredwalden@hotmail.com 692-5052

Council Member (now Mayor-elect) Mike Haney cmhaney@earthlink.net 692-6114

Council Member Chris Smithson chris@smithsoninc.com 693-9766

Council Member David Woodruff banddwoody@earthlink.net 695-1023